1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to cutting tools and more particularly to handheld machinery and methods for debreasting a game bird.
2. Background Art
Conventional knives and bladed instruments for cutting and shearing meat from game animals are known in the art. Such instruments include single bladed knives having one or more sharpened edges for cutting game meat. Some conventional edged instruments known in the art for removing meat from game animals include blades having unique geometric shapes designed for optimal meat removal. Other devices known in the art include conventional hunting and kitchen knives.
In many applications, it is generally desirable to remove only the breast from a game bird. For example, when a species of game bird such as dove, duck, quail, pheasant, grouse, woodcock, partridge, etc. is harvested, a significant portion of the desirable meat for human consumption is found in the breast region on the underside of the bird abdomen. Sportsmen and sportswomen often prefer to remove and keep only the intact breast region of a bird and discard the remainder of the carcass. The breast region typically is removed using a knife or other type of cutting instrument. In many applications, however, a conventional knife or other cutting instrument does not provide an optimal breast removal tool for cleaning wild fowl. For example, a knife may slip in the user's hand or may inadvertently pierce entirely through the bird abdomen and cause injury the user. Moreover, the cleaning process using a handheld knife is slow. In many situations, a single hunter or group of hunters may harvest several dozen birds, which can require multiple hours to clean using conventional tools and methods. Additionally, conventional tools and methods do not efficiently remove the maximum amount of consumable breast meat, and thus result in waste.
Others have attempted to improve upon conventional handheld tools and methods for cleaning game bird by providing game shears, or scissors, for removing meat. Such conventional game shears typically include opposing blades connected at a pivoting joint. However, such conventional game shears are difficult to use in many applications because the bird abdomen may inadvertently move, or slip, between the blades during use. Additionally, conventional game shears do not rigidly hold the abdomen in place as the opposing blades approach from the sides, allowing slippage of the bird and causing damage to the breast meat and potential injury to the user, and further resulting in inefficient meat removal.
What is needed are improvements in the devices and methods for removing meat from a game animal, and particularly for debreasting a game bird.